The Soldier
by ArtsyChick
Summary: When returning from a mission, a mysterious ANBU soldier spies a little girl crying by the wall, and decides to find out what's wrong.


There she was, crying against the wall, soaking her bubble-gum pink tresses with her salty tears. Her small arms hid her tear-stained cheeks from the world as the little girl sobbed uncontrollably. Coughing a little as her throat tightened, she rubbed her swollen eyes to try and rid herself of her sorrows.

It wasn't fair that she had an unusually large forehead and it wasn't fair that all the children would rather tease her than play with her. Why did she have to have a big forehead anyway? What had she done to deserve to have no friends? In her opinion, life was highly, completely, and totally unfair.

The sun was slowly sinking closer toward the horizon, but the little girl didn't care. Maybe when it got dark, she could walk home in shame, and no one would see her 'billboard brow', as some children had decided to call it.

"Excuse me," a voice said, and the girl looked up, curious at who had come to taunt her now. Instead, her jade-green eyes fell upon a tall person dressed in a strange uniform, a dog-shaped clay mask concealing their face with tufts of silver hair poking out from behind it. By the sound of the voice, she could tell that the person was a man, probably in his late teens or early twenties. The man's hands were shoved deep into his pockets of his baggy blue pants, the golden sunlight reflecting off the arm guards strapped to his wrists.

She was snapped out of her observations when the man asked, "Are you crying?" Slowly, he bent down, his knees cracking loudly, and she felt like his eyes were burrowing into her soul.

"N-n-no," she stuttered, hurriedly wiping her leaking eyes.

"What's your name?" he questioned gently, resting his hands on his knees.

"I-I'm not supposed to talk to str-str-strangers."

"Oh." The mysterious man began to straighten when he felt a tug on his pant leg. "Yes?"

"D-d-don't go. M-my name's Sakura." Sniffing, she released her grip on his leg.

Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, or so Sakura thought, he reached up and broke a branch off a nearby cherry tree. "Sakura flowers for Sakura-chan," he said, handing her the branch, and Sakura was sure there was smile playing on his hidden lips.

Sakura accepted the flowers and buried her face into the blossoms, inhaling their sweet scent. "Thank you," she whispered, closing her eyes.

"You're welcome."

Sakura quickly opened her eyes, her long eyelashes brushing against the pink flowers, and asked, "Will you tell me your name?"

"Uh, I can't."

Sakura leaned forward, setting the branch next to her as she suddenly became interested. "Why not? Is it a _girl's_ name?"

"No, it's a secret."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not allowed to tell anyone my name."

"How come?"

"Because I'm a soldier in the ANBU Black Ops, and we aren't allowed to tell."

"Oh. Then... can I see your face?"

The man scratched the back of his head nervously. "Um, well..."

Sakura leaned even further forward and clasped her tiny hands together. "Oh please sir, pretty pretty please?"

"Well, I, uh..."

"PLEASE??"

"Oh... all right." Slowly, the man's hand reached up and untied the strings binding his mask to his face. When he pulled it away, Sakura saw... another mask, this time made of cloth.

"Hey, you're wearing two masks!" she yelled pointing at his face. The man seemed bewildered at her statement and his shoulders dipped slightly. "I wanna see your whole face!"

"No you don't."

"Yes I do."

"No you don't."

"Yes I do!"

"No you don't."

"Yes I do." She then started to cry again, and the man caved in. His shoulders drooped even further as he surrendered to her tears. Hooking two fingers into the blue cloth covering the bridge of his nose, the soldier began to tug the cloth down, and Sakura leaned forward in anticipation.

Slowly, the man revealed a straight nose, high cheekbones, and finally two soft, full lips. The mask hung loosely around his neck as Sakura drank in his beauty. He really was the handsomest man she'd ever seen, even cuter than Sasuke-kun and Itachi-san.

On a sudden impulse, Sakura placed two slender fingers on his hairline and gently began running her fingers along it, down his cheekbones, grazing his ears, across his nose, and down to his chin. Finally, she dragged two fingers across his lips, which had sealed when his breath hitched.

Sakura's lips had parted slightly as she touched his lips, and she hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath. Grinning happily, she said, "You're cute. I like you."

The man's face contorted in surprise and he smiled against her fingers. "I like you too Sakura."

Sakura dropped her fingers and continued to grin. "You're nice, will you be my friend?"

"Um, sure Sakura."

"Oh wait." Her eyes flickered as she pointed at her forehead. "Do you think I have a big forehead?"

The man tilted his head and narrowed his obsidian eye (his other eye was obscured by his mop-top hair), scrutinizing the small girl. "No. I think your forehead is... charming."

Sakura's jaw dropped as she touched her forehead. "Charming? Really?"

"Yeah. I think it's adorable. It suits you, because you're adorable." There was suddenly a loud call that sounded an awful lot like 'ANBU soldier two one five!'

The man straightened his back and replaced both his masks. "I have to go Sakura."

Sakura jumped up and grabbed his leg. "Wait." The man leaned down again and patiently waited for the small child to continue. Instead, her gentle hands slid the mask so it was strapped to the side of his head, flattening his hair, and pressed her lips to his cool forehead. Once again, his breath caught as her delicate lips lingered for a fraction of a second before pulling back. "Will I ever see you again?" she whispered, balancing her hands on his broad shoulders.

"I don't know," was his honest reply, taking her hands and holding them at her sides. "But I get discharged from the ANBU Black Ops in four years. If I'm still alive by then, I'll meet you right here." Standing up to his full height, he tied the mask back to his face and ruffled her disarrayed pink locks. "Goodbye Sakura." And he leaped up into a tree and dashed off into the forest nearby.

"Sakura!" another voice called as soon as the man left. The small girl turned to see a taller woman with peach-colored hair piled on top of her head running toward her. "Oh Sakura, I've been looking all over for you!" the woman said, scooping Sakura into her arms. "You were supposed to be home hours ago!"

"Sorry Mom, I was talking to someone."

"You know you're not supposed to talk to strangers!"

"No, he wasn't a stranger! He was a soldier."

"You were talking to a soldier! Sakura!"

"No Mom, he was really nice! He even let me see his face!"

"Was he wearing an animal mask?"

"Yes. It looked like a puppy-dog."

"Sakura, I told you to never talk to those men. They're very dangerous."

"This one wasn't. He gave me flowers, see?" She held up the cherry tree branch and her mother took it gently, astounded at what her daughter told her. "He gave me flowers, but he wouldn't tell me his name 'cause he said it was a secret, so I think he has a _girl's_ name or something, and then he showed me his face and told me I was adorable and I gave him a kiss on the forehead and he said he had to go but to meet him here in four years and then he left and you came."

"Well, you shouldn't talk to strangers Sakura," her mother mumbled, turning the branch over in her hands. "Are you hungry sweetheart? I left dinner on the table."

"Yes please."

"Okay, let's go home." Taking her four-year-old daughter's hand, she began to lead her away.

Sakura glanced back one last time at the wall where she had met the unusually handsome soldier, and under her breath she whispered, "I'll meet you there."


End file.
